UKRAINE: Churches Badly Damaged In Recent Fighting

Archbishop Thomas Edward Gullickson, the apostolic nuncio in Ukraine, offered a sincere review of the difficulties facing the Church in Ukraine in a September 23 address to officials of the international charity, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

The American-born archbishop said that churches have been badly damaged in recent fighting, and even after the violence ends there will be heavy costs to rebuild and repair them. Christian priests and religious leaders have been driven out of some areas where Russian forces are active—particularly in Crimea—and it is questionable whether they will be allowed to return.